Wednesday, February 17, 2010

It's All In The Wrists

For my money, Alex Semin possesses the hardest, most deceptive wrist shot in the NHL today. Most of the time he shoots off the wrong foot in such a way that the release point completely fools opposing goalies (and shot blocking defenders). He can release the shot in traffic, circling out of either corner, or while simply standing still. He’s even managed to score with the shot while on his knees!

Joe Sakic is renowned for having one of the greatest wrist shots in the game. From his 5’11” frame, he was able to generate immense amounts of torque and snap his wrists in such a way that his wrist shot was as hard as some players’ slap shots. Sakic’s shot was usually a normal, correct foot wrist shot delivered with loads of power.

But in today’s NHL, I honestly can’t find another hockey player to compare Semin’s wrist shot motion to. I had to cross the lines of sport into baseball to find his equal: San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Tim Lincecum. Lincecum has an odd delivery that relies heavily on applying torque to his core and uncoiling to generate arm speed. In an excellent Sports Illustrated piece, his motion is called “an engineering marvel,” a description that fits Semin’s wrist shot perfectly. Lincecum himself says that when he uncoils, “[my arm] is just kind of along for the ride." Like Lincicum, the uncoiling of Semin’s core muscles help generate arm speed for his shot such that Semin’s wrist shot velocity is off the charts without relying heavily on his arm strength.

I’ll use Semin’s 2nd goal against Ottawa as an example.

Semin circles out of the right-side corner with his weight on his left skate, striding forward. His upper body, hips and stick blade are already facing the net.

Semin doesn’t move his hands backward as he moves toward the net, tipping off his shot. Rather, he leaves his hands, stick and puck where they were in the previous frame (use the face-off circle as a reference) and skates past them.

Semin completes his stride, with his weight on his right skate, and has begun to push off with his left skate. His hands and hips are still in the same position they were in the previous frame. As a result, his trunk has already begun to torque in a clockwise direction.

Semin’s hands are STILL in the same position as they were two frames ago. He has completed the stride with the left foot and the torque on his upper body is now very noticeable.

Semin’s hands have moved slightly forward but the twist to his upper body has increased. His left leg has kicked back in order to allow for the increased torque and to begin the shot. Semin’s left leg will act as a counter-balance for the shot.

Semin’s hands have begun to move forward as his leg has begun to kick forward. His hips have opened up slightly to the left, applying additional torque to his core. At this point, Semin’s motion closely resembles that of a trebuchet.

Semin now rises up out of the shot, uncorking his upper body in a counterclockwise motion. His hands have moved closer to his body in order to put more weight into flexing his stick. His left leg has kicked out and to the left to simulate the weight transfer that would occur with a normal (correct leg) wrist shot.

Semin’s upper body continues to uncoil, his hands now moving forward to catch up. His right elbow is now bent to provide support for the flexing of his stick, now very apparent. His left leg continues to kick outward.

The shot is released as Semin’s upper body finally catches up to his hips. His hands are now moving forward and into the shot while his left leg has started to return to the ice. He has snapped his wrists to provide some extra pep to the puck. Notice the Ottawa defender leaning to the left for the shot block. A normal wrist shot would pull Semin’s body such that the shot would go off to the left. This wrist shot allows Semin to keep his body open and shoot short-side.

Semin completes his follow-through towards the net. His top (left) hand has kicked in towards his body to act as a fulcrum for the shot. The puck is already half the distance to the net. Notice the goalie has already begun to drop into the butterfly.

Semin is now through with the shot and is waiting to celebrate watching for a rebound. The release of the shot is so unpredictable that the Ottawa goalie has left his blocker high, thinking the shot is going to that side. Unfortunately for him, the puck can be seen just over his shoulder, to the right, entering the net.

Clearly, Alex Semin’s wrist shot is not his only way to score. His slap shot against Boston’s Tim Thomas from a few years ago, one-foot backhand against Pittsburgh’s Fleury last season and double toe-drag against Philadelphia this season come to mind. But this season, we’ve been witness to a wrist shot that places Semin in a league of his own. Hopefully he's found something with it, as he's used it to score more goals in the last few games before the break. I guess we'll find out in March.